Yik Yak and Buzzfeed meet in WhatsGoodly

WhatsGoodly, an interactive polling app started at Stanford University, has just launched at Hopkins.

Sophomore Griffin Morgan, the WhatsGoodly brand ambassador at Hopkins, wrote in an email to The News-Letter that he became involved with the project early on.

“My good friend from high school, Chris Sebastian, has been developing the app with a group at Stanford and asked a few close friends to help develop the user base within East Coast colleges,” Morgan wrote. “My main role is mainly as ambassador on the East Coast as it has primarily been downloaded on the West Coast and would like to gain some ground out here.”

Morgan elaborated on how users can post anonymous polls on the app.

“Users can vote on these as well as post. An example question could be ‘major with hardest work load?’ with answers being ‘a. Econ b. Public Health. c. IS d. Writing Sems.’ The app does not have a large presence at Hopkins as of now (I only told a few friends about it yesterday),” Morgan wrote.

According to Morgan, the app can be used to help unite the community.

“The app is great for determining where people are going out (bars, sport team houses, frat houses, downtown) or whether they are going to school events like Spring Fair or a lacrosse game,” Morgan wrote.

Because of the app’s public nature, people can post any poll with any responses using names or topics of their choice. While there is a filter that only allows people ages 17 and up to download the app on Apple’s App Store, there is additional censorship to prevent cyber-bullying.

The app seems to have gained a quick following within the couple of days it has been on campus.

“From looking at the number of votes on individual polls it has grown substantially pretty quickly. I would say there are somewhere from 30-60 users as of now. I have been spreading it through just word of mouth with friends,” Morgan wrote.

Freshman Catie Orlando wrote in an email to The News-Letter that she enjoys using the app.

“It’s got the college campus vibe and consumer base of Yik Yak and the quiz format of BuzzFeed,” Orlando wrote. “Are questions personal? Yes. Are they playfully offensive? Yes. Are they hilarious? Yes. I like it plenty.”

Morgan plans to try to spread the app through the Greek community at Hopkins.

“I’m hoping from there it expands to whoever is interested. I chose to target the Greek community because that seems like the best way to get it to expand rapidly by word of mouth,” Morgan wrote.

The app does, in some ways, provide a similar platform to Yik Yak. Both have statements that people can vote for on a public platform. The difference is that Yik Yak allows users to vote on whether agree or disagree with statements, whereas Whatsgoodly allows people to vote on which statements they concur with most. Both apps allow people to post whatever they want anonymously.

“It is more about getting a general idea of your community’s opinion rather than just anonymously posting,” Morgan wrote. “But again that’s my personal opinion and does not have to do with the owners’ original vision.”

Morgan also elaborated on the company’s name.

“The name is from California lingo. It’s something you would say to your friend as in “what’s good” equals “what’s up,” Morgan wrote.

Morgan also has helped Circa Black, a specialty debit card company. According to the Circa Black website, it is the world’s first metal debit card.

Circa Black customers receive a $5 gift card to Nike, Domino’s Pizza, Papa John’s Pizza, CVS/pharmacy, GameStop, Adidas or Buffalo Wild Wings when they sign up for the card.

There are a few elements of the card that make it unique. Similar to the app, Venmo, people can share money with other users. It also allows them to check their balances and transaction history on their app.

“Once again, a friend from high school asked me to help promote it. They were targeting elite colleges,” Morgan wrote.

Morgan differentiated between the advertising techniques he used for both companies.

“For Circa Black, I just carried the card around and explained the benefits to purchasing one. It’s a very flashy black metal credit card that was laser-cut. So, whenever I used it, people were very intrigued,” Morgan wrote. “So, while Whatsgoodly was more word of mouth, Circa Black involved a more public display of the card and then having people inquire.”

Jane Jeffery contributed reporting.